Help
by The ULTIMATE catchphrase
Summary: As much as they hate to admit it, Harry and the gang can't defeat Voldemort on their own. They're going to need some very "special" Help. NOT A SLASH.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I'll leave Fate up…for now. So, for the time being, Fate and Help are in…um…different dimensions *laughs nervously* ahem. Use your imagination for me, K? I'll delete Fate…soon…or maybe not at all. Jus' depends. This is set in the 7****th**** book, the first place they camp out at. I want ya'lls opinion on this! **

**Me: HEY! RILEY! **

**Riley: *runs down the stairs* WHAT? **

**Me: Do I…own PJO, by any chance?**

**Riley: *rolls her eyes* Hon, we've been over this. NO YOU DO NOT!**

**Me: Well…what about Harry Potter?**

**Riley: *says dramatically* Yes, Emmy, you **_**do **_**own Harry Potter. **

**Me: REALLY?  
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**Riley: NO! Now shut up and get on with the story!**

**Me: *sighs sadly and turns to readers* There you have it. I do not own.**

**Riley: WHO are you talking to?**

It was dark. Dark and dank and cold. Shadows tugged on her clothes and hair, adding to her discomfort. Strange sound echoed through her ears, jostling around in her panicked brain. Yeah, she was scared, and she hated shadow traveling with a passion.

Would she admit that?

Oh, Hades no. Not in this lifetime.

She felt numb, and clammy, and she couldn't see anything through the suffocating darkness. But she could _feel. _She could _feel _Percy next to her, an arm looped protectively around her waist, for which she was grateful.

Of course, she would never admit that either.

Those few seconds in the darkness felt long and agonizing, and ridiculously slow-mo, as if the odd little trio were attempting to shadow-travel through jello. Finally, a shard of light broke through the murk, and another, and another.

And suddenly, she was somewhere else. People rushed by her, buffeting her in her already queasy state. She leaned across Percy and hissed to Nico, "This _isn't _Percy's apartment."

They had been on their way from camp, to go celebrate Percy's birthday all together, now that they were finally free of their impending doom that had been looming over their heads since they were twelve.

Nico looked around, his face hazy with exhaustion. He leaned on Percy and looked around fuzzily. "It…isn't?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, feeling irritated. "No, it _isn't! _ Nico, how many time have I told you to _concentrate _when you shadow-travel with us!"

Nico rubbed his face and looked up at her, his expression agitated. "Would you stop talking for one second? I'm too tired to make a witty comeback," he muttered.

Percy looked around, with that adorable lost-puppy look that made her heart melt, and her knees weak. "So, uh, where are we, exactly?" he looked expectantly at Nico, who shrugged, replying, "Hey, don't ask me. I just work here."

Annabeth bit her tongue, wishing she could just smack the little twerp upside the head. She surveyed the area, flitting through her brain's storage, trying to mach up anything that might give her a clue. Finally, she recognized the building shapes from a picture she had seen. Realization hit her like a brick.

"We're on Tottenham Court Road!" she cried, not even believing how off Nico had been.

Percy scratched his head. "I'm guessing that's _not_ in New York."

"No, it's not! It's not even in _America! We're in England!" _she yelled, her arms up in exasperation. A few people stole glances at the trio.

Nico's head snapped towards her so fast she could have sworn she heard a _whoosh. _Talk about whiplash.

"We're _WHAT?" _ He yelled "How could I have been _that _off? That's not even possible!"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You've landed me in China before, dude. It's more than possible." Nico crossed his arms, pouting like a small child.

"Yeah, but I've been practicing. This kind of thing shouldn't be happening anymore."

Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath.

"Okay guys, here's the plan. We'll stick around for a bit 'till Nico can muster up enough strength to get us back to New York, hopefully in time for Percy's birthday tomorrow. Got it?"

The boys nodded dutifully.

"So…" Percy began, dodging people here and there. "what now?"

Annabeth shrugged. "We…find a place to rest?"

Nico yawned tiredly, rubbing an eye. "Zeus knows I need it." Thunder crackled across the sky. Nico waved it off irritably.

Annabeth nodded, proud of herself for keeping her head…mostly. She glanced around, hoping to spot a suitable place to stop and rest for a bit. She saw a group of drunken men across the road, jeering at three teenagers about their age (aside from Nico, who was only thirteen. Annabeth was 17, and Percy would be tomorrow.) . She saw the girl glare at the men, before leading the two boys into a small, shabby overnight café. She smiled.

_Perfect. _

"C'mon, boys." She grabbed both their arms, all but dragging them towards that same Café, ignoring when the men wolf whistled. One grinned at her and slurred, "Hey, princess! How bout you, eh? Do _you _fancy a drink? C'mon, why don't you come with me and have a pint?"

Annabeth felt Percy's hands tense, like he was about to storm over there and sock the gross man in the eye. Annabeth gave him a look, like _don't you dare. _ If anyone was going to punch the guy, it would be her. But she wasn't going to.

Percy glared murderously in the men's direction (something he'd been working on—he _actually _looked a bit frightening) before following Annabeth quietly in the diner, though he didn't look happy about it.

**The shortness makes me embarrassed, but oh well. So, was it any good? At all? …Action to come in chapter 2. I have MUCH planned. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA-*cough sputter cough* ahem. Anyway, WARNING: THERE WILL BE SOME CHARACTER "DEATH" IN LATER CHAPTERS, aside from…well, if you've read the book you know. I won't spoil it till later for those who have not. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I'M ALIIIIIIVE! I'm SO sorry! I had testing…then I was grounded…and then I had non-stop play practice…then MORE tests and homework…I HAVE FINNALLY GOTTEN A DAMN BREAK! 'Scuse meh language, but REALLY. **

**Oh, and in the last chapter, I had forgotten that Harry had been under the Cloak, so Annabeth couldn't have seen him. I'll have to go back and edit that… So yeah. They can only see Ron and Hermione. **

**An example of my horrible case of Impulsive Randomness Disease:**

**Right before I began writing this, I spent a good half-hour gluing plastic rhinestones to a piece of copy paper. Why? Cause I was bored, home alone, and I had access to a pound of multi-colored rhinestones, a toothpick, and a bottle of Elmer's glue. WHAT DID YOU THINK I WAS GONNA DO WITH MY TIME? HOMEWORK? Oh **_**hell **_**no. So I glued rhinestones to a piece of paper. My level of sanity is dropping so rapidly it's scary…**

**The wise words of ME: "I sometimes wonder is insanity is contagious. I mean, how else would I make any friends?"**

**AHEM. **

**Anyway…without further ado…OH, LOOK A TREE…ahem, sorry…..without further ado…CHAPTER TWO! (OH MY LORD ALMIGHTY IN THE SKY! THAT RHYMED!)**

The trio followed the lanky, freckly red-head and the girl with bushy brown-haired girl into the café.

The place was no less shabbier inside then it had been from the outside. The booths we cramped and the table-tops were covered in light film of grease. But hey, Nico had slept in worse places before, and he felt ready to drop dead (no pun intended), so he wasn't about to be picky.

The two teens they had followed slipped into a booth, and, in turn, Annabeth slipped into the one behind theirs. Percy went in next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She smiled at him lightly and pecked him on the cheek.

_Oh, gross._

Nico rolled his eyes at the couple, before sitting opposite of them, not wanting intrude on their little love-fest. The only problem with that? Nico's back was to the door, something that made him twitchier than he would've liked to admit. He noticed that the brown-haired girl was looking over her shoulder constantly as well.

_Looks like we're not the only ones with something to hide._

Nico stared off as Percy and Annabeth whispered to each other quietly. Suddenly, he noticed something was off. The air next to the red-headed boy across from the girl seemed to be…shimmering. He blinked rapidly, and the shimmering ceased. He sighed and folded his arms on the table, resting his head in them.

_Gods…_ he thought _I must really be tired. _

"Nico?" Annabeth's voice reached his ears. He looked up.

"Huh?"

"You should try and get some sleep. You're gonna need all the strength you can get if we're going to-uh…" she glanced behind her, "_You know what _all the way back to New York." The brown-haired girl might've gone a bit rigid as Annabeth said that, but Nico was too tired to care. He nodded fuzzily and rested his head again.

He had only been asleep for a couple minutes when the yelling started.

He snapped awake, jumping up. His hand instinctively flew towards his sword. Annabeth and Percy were drawing their weapons as well. There were two new people in the room; a pair of burly workmen, armed with—

"_Sticks?"_ Nico asked incredulously. "They're armed with _sticks?" _

The large blond one turned towards him, his eyes filled with cold, evil amusement. He shouted something Nico thought to be gibberish, and a beam of light shot from the stick. Without thinking, Nico flung himself to the side, smacking into the ground. The tile on the space he had been a moment before shattered.

"_Ooo-kay," _he muttered, disconnecting his cheek from the floor. "not just a stick." He picked himself off the floor, ready to deck the guy in the gut. The man pointed his stick at Nico again, his mouth open.

Suddenly, a guy's bodiless voice shouted, "_Stupefy!" _

A beam of light shot out of nowhere, aiming for the blonde guy's face, but before it could hit, Nico tackled the burly man. They went tumbling to the floor, Nico kicking and punching, the man struggling, obviously startled by the fact that this was a scrawny thirteen-year old boy beating him up.

At this, Percy and Annabeth kicked into action. Annabeth sheathed her knife, before aiming a good kick at the man's face. He flew back, smacking into the wall. He pushed his hair back from his face and pointed his wand at Percy. However, he never got the chance to say a word, for Nico was thrown hard against him by the blonde one.

Nico and the other man slumped to ground, Nico dazed and sore, the man out cold.

The redhead was just plain gaping in shock, while the girl was at least _trying _to help, although her spells kept missing. Another sudden beam of red rebounded on the window and hit a waitress.

Blondie recovered his wits and bellowed, "_Expulso!" _ A table suddenly exploded.

Something hard smacked into a wall, and a new boy was suddenly visible. Percy kicked Blondie in the face, and he stumbled back, wailing. The girl took this chance and shouted, _"Petrificus Totalus!" _ This time, the spell actually hit Blondie. His limbs snapped to his sides, and he fell forward into the debris.

The teens all stood where they were, breathing hard and shaking all over. Nico pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his chest and wincing.

"_What _just happened?" Annabeth demanded, at the same time the red-head shouted, "Who _are_ you?"

They seemed to stare each other down, before Red-head turned to the girl and mumbled, "Should we tell them?"

The girl clenched her fist, looking pained. She nodded ever so slightly. Freckles (that was what Nico decided to call him) turned back to Annabeth.

"Death Eaters," he growled, through gritted teeth.

"Excuse me? Did you say _Death Eaters?"_ She said, he tone a bit condescending.

Freckles nodded grudgingly.

Percy raised an eyebrow, turning towards Nico. "Well, you're Death Boy," the strangers all went rigid and suspicious. "Do you know anything about this?"

Nico made his way over, shaking his head. "Nope. At least, Father never mentioned it, though that doesn't necessarily mean anything." He looked at Freckles.

"What, exactly, is a Death Eater?"

The three strangers shared a panicked look. The dark-haired one, who had seemingly popped out of nowhere, reluctantly replied, "Dark wizards."

Annabeth let out a high, nervous laugh. "_Wizards?_ Puh-_lease._ They don't exist." She seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than them.

Honestly, after what he had seen, Nico didn't find that so hard to believe.

"Oh, believe me. They do."

The girl seemed to find her voice then. "Well, we told you what you wanted to know. Now tell us, who are you?" he voice was quavering slightly.

The trio exchanged looks. Annabeth's eyes suddenly lit up, and she replied, "Well, I'm Annie Bell." She smirked. Percy, seemingly getting the message, told them, "Uh, Perry Johansson." Nico tried hard not to laugh, at least until he realized it was his turn. He cleared his throat.

"Uh, Nick…Johansson," then he quickly added, "We're cousins."

They nodded slowly, before turning towards themselves, arguing quietly. They began whispering what Nico could only guess were spells, and the café rebuilt itself. They preformed some spell on the "Death Eaters" and Percy helped Freckles and the black-haired boy hoist the two into a booth, facing each other. When all that was done, the girl rounded on them, her wand pointed to them.

"I'm terribly sorry," she said, her voice shaking, "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to—"

"No," Percy's sword was now drawn, pointed at the girls neck. Nico didn't know what she was seeing, but it obviously wasn't good. She swallowed thickly, her eyes wide. The two boys started towards them, but Nico pulled out his sword, and they stumbled back.

"Well," she squeaked, "We'll be going then…." She grabbed he companions' hands and seemed to be concentrating, much like Nico did when he was about to shadow travel.

What Percy did next was probably the stupidest, most impulsive thing he had ever done, which was saying a lot. He grabbed Annabeth (who in turn grabbed Nico) and latched on to the girl's arm. They all disappeared with a loud _crack._

**YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! How'd I do? I kinda suck at fight scenes. Sorry.**

**I want you guy's advice on something: There's this horrid girl at my school who absolutely hates my guts. All she does is insult me, mess with me, and steal my stuff. She once told me she wanted me to be hit by a huge boulder and die. I've tried confronting her, be she just ignores me and continues. What should I do about her? Leave a review please!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~The ULTIMATE Catchphrase**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hola! I am back with another update! YAY! Sorry 'bout the long wait, but its summer now, baby! Expect updates at LEAST two times a week, maybe even three! One problem though: I'm gone almost the whole month of July. I leave for camp July 10****th****, and I don't get back till like…August 4****th****. So I'll try to update as much as I can until then! Another problem: My Bat Mitzvah (look it up, I'm not going to explain) is next year, therefore I'm going to be going through a lot of tutoring and training, which leaves very little time to write. So…yeah. Busy summer. Oh, AND I have to have my novel done by the end of the summer. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A FULL CHAPTER DONE YET! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I promised my two best friends/editors!**

**Ahem. Uh, anyway, Son of Neptune updates soon, winners included yadda yadda yadda. You get the point. **

**Now, without further annoying babbling, I give you...CHAPTER THREE!**

**Percy**

A word about whatever it was they were doing: it was _far _worse than shadow traveling. At least when you shadow traveled, you could actually _breathe and feel. _Right about now, the only thing Percy could feel was himself being squeezed through what seemed like a very narrow tube, with absolutely no air what so ever. So yeah, much worse.

Just when Percy felt like he was going to die of suffocation, his feet connected with solid ground, and he stumbled onto an old street lined with dilapidated houses, his stomach extremely queasy. However, he was too busy gulping in precious air to puke (or so he hoped.) Nico wasn't so lucky. Almost immediately, he doubled over and threw up violently in the bushes. He wiped his mouth, cursing, making Annabeth (who was clinging to Percy, her face unusually pale) glare at him reproachfully.

It was around then that the other girl noticed them. The brunette yanked her hand away (which Percy hadn't realized he'd still been holding), her eyes wide and panicked. Whispering unintelligibly, she began tapping the redhead's back frantically, stealing glances at the stowaways. The two boys turned around, seemingly irritated…that is, until they noticed Percy and friends. The shock on their faces was almost comical, and Percy had to elbow Nico in the ribs when he started to snicker. The strange teens began to whisper amongst themselves. Percy didn't catch any of the conversation, but they seemed to be in an argument of sorts by the looks of it.

"Excuse me," Annabeth butted in, making them freeze, "But if you're quite finished bickering, we'd like to know where we are."

"And who you are," Nico added.

"And what the _Hades _just happened," Percy finished.

They exchanged looks. The brunette gave the tiniest nod, like she had a plan.

"My name's Hermione," The girl said. She pointed to the redhead, "That's Ron… and that is Harry," She whispered that last part. "We're at Grimmauld place," she didn't seem too pleased about that. "And you just apparated."

"Apparated," Annabeth repeated, looking skeptical, "What in the world is apparating?"

"The…" Hermione searched for a way to explain it properly, "It's a form of wizard travel,"

"Like shadow traveling…" Nico muttered. Annabeth elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow! Would you stop that?" he hissed.

"You people aren't wizards…are you?" The black haired one, Harry, murmured.

Percy swallowed. He turned to Annabeth. Their silent conversation went a little like this:

_Percy: Should we lie?_

_Annabeth: No, No. They might ask for proof._

_Percy: You're right. Something tells me that Hermione isn't going to be easy to fool._

_Annabeth: Uh-huh. We should probably just have Nico get us back home, but honestly, I'm curious._

_Percy: Me too. So we'll tag along._

_Annabeth: Whatever you do, don't mention the whole demigod thing. They don't need to know. _

"No," Percy said at last. "At least not exactly." Annabeth kicked him in the shin.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Way to be subtle Annie." He turned to Hermione, Ron and Harry. "So, what exactly are we doing at this 'Grimmauld Place'?"

"Why should we tell you anything more?" Ron asked, irritated. "You haven't told us a thing, save for your names!"

"Look, we haven't told you anything because it's not our secret to tell. Unlike you, we can't wipe memories." Nico stopped, as if he had just come up with a great idea (Which, Percy noted, was not something he had often). "Okay, I'll make a deal with you. You tell us everything, let us help with whatever it is, yes I know there's something, and when it's all said and done, you can wipe our memories clean." Annabeth looked appalled, partly because of what he was suggesting, and partly because of the terrible run-on…ness of the previous sentence.

"You'll be done with whatever it is, your precious little secret will be safe, and we can be on our merry way, our secret safe as well. Everybody wins."

This proposition as met by Annabeth elbowing him in the ribs yet again. "Idiot!" she hissed. "I don't want my memories wiped!"

"I think it's a good idea," Percy shrugged.

"Says the one with the hero complex!" Annabeth growled.

"Well, there's no need to be hurtful…" Percy muttered "Even if it's true."

"Would you two stop bickering for one second?" Nico hissed. He turned the other three (who seemed a bit taken aback) and folded his arms, one eyebrow arched. "Well? What'll it be?"

They all turned to Harry, who gave the slightest nod.

"Fine," he said, though he didn't look too pleased. "But not here."

His eyes scanned the dilapidated houses. Finally, he fixed his gaze on one. _Number twelve_. For some reason, the house seemed…fuzzy. Like Percy was looking at it through foggy glasses. Nico and Annabeth seemed to be having the same problem, for they kept blinking and squinting.

"Why does it look so…fuzzy?" Annabeth questioned, blinking profusely.

"You can see it, Annie?" Hermione gaped. "That shouldn't be possible…what about you, Nick, Perry?"

It took a moment for them to realize who she was talking to. "Uh, yeah I can see it," 'Perry' answered, rubbing his neck nervously. "But Anna—Uh Annie's right. It's…well, fuzzy."

'Nick' nodded in silent agreement. Hermione tilted her head, confused. "But…but you're muggles! As in no magic! You aren't supposed to be able to see it! It's protected!"

"Like the mist…" Percy muttered.

"Pardon?"

"N-nothing. Look, we're not exactly muggles either. At least…if a muggle is what I think it is…."

"So…you're squibs?" Hermione asked, seeming glad to have a logical reason.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Let's go with that." They all nodded, like 'oh that explains it!', but Percy could tell they didn't believe it.

"Let's just go inside," Nico suggested.

"Good idea, Nick…" They trudged up the stone steps, up to the ragged door. Harry took out his wand…thing and tapped the door once with it. There was a series of metallic clicks, the clang of a chain, and the door swung open with a sharp _creak._ The six of them hurried over the threshold, Nico closing the door behind them. Old-fashioned gas lamps flickered to life, throwing light down the hallway. It was an eerie place, line with cobwebs and outlines of what looked like…heads. There was a staircase leading upwards, and a troll's leg umbrella stand lay on its side.

"I think someone's been in here," Hermione whispered, pointing towards it.

"That could have happened when the Order left," Ron reasoned.

"The Order?" Percy whispered, confused. They ignored him.

"So where are these jinxes they put up against Snape?" Harry asked.

"Snape?" Nico questioned, only to be ignored as well.

"Maybe they're only activated if he shows up?" suggested Ron.

They stayed with their backs against the wall, too frightened to make a mover.

"Well, we can't just stand here forever," said Percy, and he took a tentative step forward.

"_Severus Snape?" _

A harsh voiced rang out in the darkness, and all six of them jumped in fright.

Percy cried, "I'm not Snape!" just before cold air whooshed over them and his tongue curled over itself. He made a startled noise in the back of his throat, and his tongue unraveled.

By their expressions, Percy guessed the others had experienced the same thing. Ron was retching; Hermione stammered, "That m-must have b-been the T-Tongue-Tying Curse Mad-Eye set up for Snape!"

"I'm S-sorry, who?" Annabeth muttered, but she was ignored just as Percy and Nico were.

Hesitantly, his heart hammering in his chest, Percy took another step forward, but immediately wished he hadn't. Further down the hall, something in the shadows shifted, and before any of them could even say a thing, a figure had risen from the carpet, tall, dust-colored, and terrible; Hermione and Annabeth screamed, as did someone else, but Percy was too freaked out to even care. The gray figure flew towards them, faster and faster, its long hair and beard streaming behind it, its face sunken, fleshless, with empty eye sockets. It raised a wasted arm, and pointed it at Percy, who didn't do anything more than scream.

Harry found his voice, his wand raised. "No!" he shouted, "No! It wasn't us! We didn't kill you-"

On the word _kill_ the figure exploded in a mushroom cloud of dust. Percy doubled over, coughing. Annabeth and Nico were clinging to each other, too traumatized to be embarrassed; Harry was just standing their, panicked. Hermione crouched on the floor, her hands over her head, while a shaking Ron patted her back clumsily, saying, "It's all r-right…it's g-gone…"

Someone, who Percy could not identify, continued to scream.

"_Mudbloods, filth, stains of dishonor, taint of shame on the house of my fathers—"_

"SHUT UP!" Harry bellowed, swiveling around to point his wand at the…portrait? Percy suddenly felt dizzy. With a bang and a shower of sparks erupted. The curtains swung shut, and there was silence.

"That…that was…" Hermione whimpered, as Ron helped her up.

"Yeah," said Harry, "But it wasn't really him, was it? Just something to scare Snape."

Percy still had no idea what they were talking about, but he decided not to ask. Nico and Annabeth untangled themselves, and they set off down the hall, Percy's heart still hammering. He half expected another zombie dust-bunny to jump out at them, but nothing more than a mouse moved.

"Before we go any further," Hermione whispered, raising her wand, "I think we should check." She pointed her wand outward and said, "_Homenum revelio_."

Nothing happened.

"Well, you've just had a big shock," Ron said kindly, "What was that supposed to do?"

"It did exactly what it was meant to do!" Hermione hissed irritably. "That was a spell to reveal Human presence, and there's nobody here but us!"

"And old Dusty over there," Nico muttered, jutting his chin to the patch of carpet the figure had risen from.

"You were right, by the way," Nico said, turning to Harry. "That…thing wasn't alive."

"And how would you know?" Hermione asked, still cross.

"You have your secrets, and we have ours," Nico replied ominously. Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but said nothing.

**YAY! Done. MONSTER chapter here. Some of it was directly from the book, I do not own, yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill. Anyways, updates soon, maybe even tomorrow. Have a great summer everyone!**

**~The ULTIMATE Catchphrase~**


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